Anthology Markets

If you've just wandered in off the internet, hi and welcome. :) I do these posts every month, so if this post isn't dated in the same month you're in, click here to make sure you're seeing the most recent one.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, "Until Filled" markets (if any) are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Note that The Binge-Watching Cure is open until December, but they're only taking one story of each specified length, and one of the categories is filled already, so if you want to sub to them, do so ASAP.

Sorry there's not much this month. It seems all the editors had deadlines through the spring, and now they're busy reading slush and putting their TOCs together. I've seen this happen in previous years; we'll be back in business in a month or two. In the mean time, keep writing!

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30 June 2016 -- Transitions & Awakenings -- Sanguine Press

Sanguine Press is currently open for submissions to our first anthology, Transitions & Awakenings.

THEME: I Regret Nothing

Too many characters spend their time brooding about the past, whether it’s missed opportunities or mistakes that led to misfortune down the line. For our first anthology, we want your stories with at least one character who has no regrets – either for a specific moment, or in general. Your story must feature a predominantly POC cast to be considered.

GENRES: Sci-fi, Fantasy, or Horror (no poetry, please)

STORY LENGTH: For this anthology, we’re looking for original, short fiction up to 10,000 words. While we’ll read a piece that’s slightly longer, we will absolutely not consider any story over 12,000 words. Your story must be complete within the stated word count – no serials or other multi-part pieces.

PAY: We pay .10/word for the first 1,000 words, .05/word for the next 5,000 words and .03/word after that.

CONTRACT OVERVIEW: Our contract covers the right to publish your story within our digital and print anthology, as well as online at Sanguine Press for paying members. We ask for exclusive rights for one year, and non-exclusive after that. A full contract will be provided upon acceptance into the anthology.

NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Please only send us one story at a time, and wait for a response before sending another. We’re excited to get to read your work, but as a two-person team we have to do all we can to give as many authors as possible a fair chance to be read.

NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: If you decide to submit to another publisher, please send us a note and withdraw your submission here, first. We ask this only because of time constraints, and this policy may change in the future when our staff expands.

NO PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED WORKS We’re thrilled to have published authors submit their work for consideration! But please, no work that has already been published elsewhere.

We solemnly swear we will respond to you whether your work is accepted or not, but please give us at least 2 (two) months to read and get back to you. If you haven’t heard from us by then, by all means, send us a note to see what’s up. We know that’s a long time to wait, and we thank you for being so patient with us!

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31 August 2016 -- Automobilia -- Fahrenheit Books

[This is the first of an anthology series, and it seems each book is going to be multi-genre; this volume has an "automobile" theme (but still accepting multi-genre stories, so long as the focus is on cars). Their actual guidelines are posted on their web site as an image rather than text, so I can't copy/paste them and I'm not going to retype the whole thing. They pay $0.05/word. Click through and check it out if you're interested.]

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1 October 2016 (or until filled) -- Ghosts on Drugs -- ed. Hy Bender and Will Paoletto

Bestselling author Hy Bender (BookProposal.net; 16 books including 5 Dummies books, a Complete Idiot's Guide, and The Sandman Companion; The New York Times, Mad Magazine) and book developer Will Paoletto (Enterprise Cometh; My Bad Parent) are putting together a short story fiction anthology titled Ghosts on Drugs.

And we're inviting you to send us a story so great that we can't resist saying "yes" to it.

The only rule is that a tale include some version of at least one ghost who's on some version of at least one drug.

And both key terms are broadly defined—e.g., a ghostwriter hooked on cough syrup could fit, and a dead ancient god with an inhumanly intense craving to be worshipped again could too.

Also, a story can run anywhere from 2 pages to 30 pages, so a short-short tale that's a solid fit for the collection will definitely be considered.

We expect many of the stories will be a mix of comedy and fantasy. However, the book is also open to horror, SF, adventure, drama, etc., as well as any combination of genres. Whatever the category, we're seeking stories that are extremely entertaining, appeal to a wide-ranging audience (high concepts are especially appreciated), and provide an emotionally satisfying ending (smartly crafted character arcs/transformations are especially appreciated).

We're aiming to include some of the world's top comedians, a bunch of superb writers, and one or two celebrities who happen to be drug fans.

Some of the advantages of being in this anthology:

== Getting a credit for a book that's likely to receive substantial attention because of its cool high concept, wildly inventive range of ideas, and exceptionally fine writing.
== Having your name alongside other impressive celebrity talents (if you're a star) or taking a helpful step on your career path (if you're not a star yet).
== Receiving payment on our acceptance—15 cents a word for the first 2,500 words and 6 cents a word after that (to encourage tight writing).
== Receiving a share of the royalties (based on word count).
== Working with Hy—a world-class editor—to make your story the very best it can be.
== Fun!

If the above sounds appealing, then please feel highly encouraged to submit material. The initial deadline is March 1st, 2016. (This might get extended, or not, depending on what comes in.)

For the sake of saving you time and effort, we recommend running an idea by Hy first to ensure it isn't redundant with something we've already purchased for the collection. However, if you prefer to just write and send us a complete story, that's great too.

Please send anything related to the anthology to Hy Bender at hy@hyreviews.com.

Looking forward to your playful, inventive, genius (or so-stupid-it's-genius) ideas and wonderful writing.

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31 December 2016 -- The Binge-Watching Cure -- ed. Bill Adler Jr.

How do you cure your Netflix (or Amazon, Google movie, or Hulu) addiction and return to your first love, reading books? You know you want to read more. You know you enjoy reading. You know you look forward to finishing a book because then you can start a new adventure.

But how? How do you get into reading when the siren call of streaming movies becomes more powerful every year? A three-hundred page novel is daunting in the face of Netflix and friends’ wonders. It’s too easy to put on pajamas, pour a glass of wine, and offer your eyes to a TV, tablet, or computer screen until sleep summons you.

Enter The Binge-Watching Cure: Fabulous Stories that Start Small and Grow Longer, edited by Bill Adler Jr. The Binge-Watching Cure will be an anthology of short stories of increasing size. The first story will be 100 words—anyone can read that. The next, 200 words. Then 500, then longer, all the way to novella length. By the time you’ve finished reading The Binge-Watching Cure, you’ll be able to tackle Joyce and Pynchon. Or at the very least, you’ll enjoy novels you hear about from friends and family. The Binge-Watching Cure will reignite your love for reading; it will better your life.

Just as you enter a cold swimming pool one body part at a time, get used to drinking beer sip by foamy sip, or learn to enjoy spicy food in little, fiery nibbles, The Binge-Watching Cure gradually acclimates you to reading longer and longer stories, until a novel-length book goes down smoothly, tasting sweet, and making you want more.
We want your writing.

We’re looking for stellar stories of various lengths for The Binge-Watching Cure. The stories must have strong characters and compelling plots. Genre fiction is okay because great fiction often crosses the genre barrier. No erotica and no stories with excessive violence. Please see our FAQ for more about what we’re looking for.

We pay $200 for short stories that are under 5,000 words and $500 for stories that are 5,000 words or longer. We will be licensing the non-exclusive print and electronic book rights, including foreign-language rights (but not audio, film rights, or magazine rights). Your name and bio will be included along with your story. Contributors also receive a copy of The Binge-Watching Cure. Previously published stories are okay, as are simultaneous submissions. There will be a signed contract, of course. The Binge-Watching Cure will be published in 2017.

Please email us your story at bingecurebook@gmail.com and send us your story in DOC, DOCX, RTF, or PDF format, double spaced with human being-readable margins, and in a sensible font such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier.

Include the exact word count, along with your contact information at the top of the manuscript.

Our FAQ has more information on what kind of stories we’re looking for and what kind of stories are not a match for The Binge-Watching Cure.

Please include a brief bio in your cover letter, as well as your contact information in both the manuscript and cover letter. Briefly summarize your story and let us know what genre, if any, your story is. If your story has been published elsewhere, let us know where and when. (Previously published stories are perfectly okay.) Content is more important than format, so don’t sweat things like line breaks. We’ll try to get back to you as soon as we can. Submissions close December 31, 2016, or as soon as the story slots are filled.

Please put your story’s title and word count in your email’s subject line. Please submit only one story at a time and read our FAQ about multiple submissions.

Here’s the important part: We want stories within 15 percent of the following word counts (within 20 percent for stories 10,000 words and longer):

100
200
500
750
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,500
4,000
4,500
6,000
7,000
8,000
10,000
15,000
25,000

The Binge-Watching Cure will have one story from each of these length categories.

[NOTE: Yes, this is much earlier than I usually post listings, but this book is filling each length slot individually, and only once; according to the site's Submissions page, the 7000 word slot is filled already. If you have a story of a particular length that you want to submit here, send it in now. Normally I wouldn't post this until October, but by that time many if not most (or maybe all) of the slots might be filled already, so I'm giving everyone an early heads-up.]